Dusting off the Sun
by Guardian Fox
Summary: Neptune didn't want to go out to the market. But after running into a strange new boy, it's the only place he wants to be, and he'll do everything he can to find him again.


Neptune bustled through the large crowd, struggling to get the soft fruit through the mass of people. A weekend at the marketplace was loud and filled with all kinds of smells. His mom had let him go and have some fun, as long as he came back with some fruit. Neptune had spent most of that money on sweets, before remembering the promise to his mother. He'd had just enough to buy an armload of peaches and bananas to bring back home, and was working his way back now. There were just so many cool stalls to look at, and he got sidetracked easily. Some Hunters were in town, and he was busy staring at them clustered around a munitions stall, when he felt someone brush up against him.

"Are you going to eat all that?" came a voice from his left.

Neptune turned and jumped back. A boy his own age had snuck up right next to him and had been standing very close to him. He had bright, messy blond hair and wide grey eyes. Neptune noticed his clothes second: they weren't like any clothes he'd seen around Haven before. Some travelers sometimes came through wearing strange things, but never someone Neptune's own age. The boy was wearing a light, sleeveless shirt with a high collar, made from some rough material, and pants that were tattered around his shoe-less feet. Thick bandages were wound around the boy's ankles and forearms, with traces of a dark stain on them, and the boy was generally dirty so Neptune couldn't tell for sure what the stain was.

Neptune had always been told to be wary of strangers, but this boy was his age, and seemed really friendly, so it was probably OK. But still, he hadn't bought as much fruit as his mom would have wanted. The candy stall had been calling his name, he swears. If he came home without the fruit she would get mad.

"I have to bring these to my mom. She'll get mad if I don't have enough."

The boy puffed out his cheeks. "But I saw you eating candy… can't I have one banana?"

"Can't your mom buy you a banana?" Neptune asked.

The boy's smile shut off and he seemed to deflate. "No, she can't," he said, looking at the ground.

Neptune hesitated. Maybe he could just tell his mom that he had to give all the food away because he helped someone out. He smiled at his brilliant idea and stepped closer to the other boy, who looked up, shocked.

"Here you go," Neptune said, reaching into the bag and pulling out one banana.

One moment he was reaching out his hand with the banana, and the next he was on his back, completely winded, with empty hands.

"Haha, sucker!" He heard. He tried to suck in air as he struggled to get up. Crouching on the ground, gasping for breath, he realized that _both_ his hands were empty. The other boy had stolen the entire bag of fruit! He struggled to his elbows in an attempts to see where the boy had gone, but the thick crowd had already closed off any possible path the boy might have taken.

"Oh you poor boy!" A women rushed to him from a nearby stall and hoisted him to his feet. She began brushing the dust off him as he still struggled to catch his breath. His back stung where it had hit the ground, and his chest hurt from where he realized the other boy must have shoved him. His eyes were tearing from the pain.

"That little beast has been hounding these stalls for two weeks now. I do my best to keep him away from my fruits, but with so many people how can I keep track on my own? That damn faunus spawn. Are your parents here, darling? Where are they? I should have seen that boy earlier but there was just such a crowd."

"I'm OK," Neptune muttered, mind going a mile a minute. "He was a faunus? I didn't see any ears or anything."

"Oh he hides his tail to try to make himself look innocent, but I've seen it. He tries to grab my fruits with it any chance he gets. I've warned the police to be on high alert. That boy has been looting stalls here for weeks. Ever since that freighter from Vacuo came in. He was probably a dirty stow away as well. You just can't trust their kind. It ain't natural."

Neptune shifted uncomfortably out of her arms. "Thank you for helping," he said, "I should go home now." And he rushed off before she could say another word.

But Neptune was not ready to go home. He slipped around a corner and began trying to catch sight of the boy from before.

A _faunus_.

There weren't many in Haven. Neptune couldn't remember ever seeing one, though he'd heard of them of course. Kids at school liked to say "eenie meenie miney-mo, catch a faunus by the toe…" and teachers would laugh as say "if you are too wild, I'll have to lock you up like a faunus" when the kids got out of control in the playground.

But Neptune didn't understand why the faunus were bad. He thought having something from an animal would be cool. Especially a fin, because then he could swim super fast.

Neptune heard a commotion from a few stalls up and rushed towards them, hoping it was the same boy as before.


End file.
